Leadership Qualities of A Successful Coach

What makes a great coach?  A winning ball team?  An all out team effort?  Unwavering fan loyalty?  No!  These factors are only by-products of good coaching and strong leadership.

A great coach is recognized by dominant characteristics that build strong character and make life-lasting impressions on his constituents.

Some of these characteristics are:

• Dedication to the task
• Tireless workmanship
• Fundamental soundness
• Thorough knowledge of the game
• Keen organizational ability
• Christian philosophy of life

Let’s look at each of these characteristics:

• Dedication to the task.  A great coach is one with a deep sense of purpose and direction for himself and the players of the team.  He is not dedicated just to winning.  He has the innate quality within his dedication to harness the full potential of the team at the most important time and with little fanfare in doing so.  This type of dedication builds spirit and morale which many times explain the difference between a mediocre team and an outstanding one.Tireless workmanship.  As a tireless worker a great coach implants enthusiasm and team loyalty that never quits until the game is over.  Team members and fans alike are influenced by the numerous hours of preparation necessary in successful coaching.  A great coach works tirelessly without expectancy of reward.  Even in defeat he is gracious and does not lose his temper and discredit his team or the officials.  He will accept victory humbly and continue to work hard.
• A Tireless Worker.  A great coach implants enthusiasm and team loyalty that never quits until the game is over.  Team members and fans alike are influenced by the numerous hours of preparation necessary in successful coaching.  A great coach works tirelessly without expectancy of reward.  Even in defeat he is gracious and does not lose his temper and discredit his team or the officials.  He will accept victory humbly and continue to work hard.
•  Fundamental Soundness.  Competition in all fields of sports has developed to such a high degree that no coach or player can afford to neglect the application of fundamental principles which can give him an advantage over, or at least keep him apace with, his opponent.  However, a great coach keeps his teaching simple.  He is constantly aware of ways to improve his teaching, but he avoids over-teaching.  He recognizes the eternal importance of fundamentals.  He avoids making dogmatic resolutions that will hamper team progress or that he as a coach will have to take back.  At drills and practice, he will use the same fundamentals with which he expects the team to win.  Fundamentally, the great coach always polishes the parts, and then brings all of them together to make the softball, baseball, and basketball machine work.  As a partial observer on “game days,” a great coach receives real satisfaction as he watches his teachings being put into practice.
• Thorough Knowledge of the Game.  Just as any good teacher must apply proper principles of teaching to his classroom situation, a coach cannot teach any sport without at least a working knowledge of the game and its rules.  The experienced coach is not always a great coach, unless, he has the ability to apply his experience in building a great team.  Team strategy depends a great deal on the coach’s ability to readjust.  Available talent from the team and past experience of the coach may be the only tools with which to make important decisions.
• Always Looking for New Ideas. The smart coach is always looking for new ideas, whether they come from actual experience, books, coaching clinics, “bull sessions,” practice sessions, or just plain instinct.  He will keep abreast of all current rule changes, and will try to be a help rather than a hindrance to good officiating keen organizational ability.  The ability to organize all matters that pertain to his team is certainly a characteristic of a great coach.  Through continuous planning and promotion, the successful coach will find ways of involving the families of the team members.
• Using Other People to carry out detailed assignments important to the team greatly extends the coach’s strength and also adds to the enjoyment of many people otherwise not associated with a church sports program. The ability to organize all matters that pertain to his team is certainly a characteristic of a great coach. Through continuous planning and promotion, the successful coach will find ways of involving the families of the team members.  Using other people to carry out detailed assignments important to the team greatly extends the coach’s strength and also adds to the enjoyment of many people otherwise not associated with a church sports program.

The alert coach keeps the administration of details running on an even keel.  These details have to be cared for well in advance:

• Purchase, maintenance, and care of equipment and supplies
• Practice time schedules
• Transportation to games
• Promotion and publicity
• Game statistics
• Public relations 

The well-organized coach will have these and various other details under control prior to his direct contact with the team for serious business.  The handling of menial chores by those outside the team membership will be recognized by a success-minded coach.

Christian Philosophy of Life.  A great coach realizes that there are many and varied character-building experiences which come from an average season.  He also realizes that the greatest lesson a young player may learn might come from a team defeat.  The same coach puts forth an all out effort to achieve victory at all times; and, when the victory is won, he points out that the victory was made possible because the players co-operated as a unit and gave their very best effort.

A Christian coach who has a concern for each individual player on the team must provide a Christ like example at all times.  A Christian coach is concerned about his players’ church attendance on the Lord’s Day.  Deep within the philosophy of a great coach is the evangelistic concern for his players.  It might be comparable to that of a Sunday school teacher for his class members.

A great coach will always be sympathetic and co-operative with the total church program and will encourage his players to do likewise.  In the final analysis of his Christian philosophy, the great coach will stay on intimate terms with God as he seeks daily to know the Master Coach’s strategy for his life.  A coach with these characteristics will assuredly leave his stamp of greatness on the lives of all those he coaches

Adapted from an article by Elmin Howell and featured in the Church Recreation Magazine, published by the Church Recreation Department of the Southern Baptist Convention.  This magazine is no longer in print.  Used with permission 
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